


Song: Aged General and Slayer of Lu Ten

by Mr_A_Firebender



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 600 Day Siege of Ba Sing Se, Duelling, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 14:26:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21254828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_A_Firebender/pseuds/Mr_A_Firebender
Summary: A short story covering the duel and resulting death of Lu Ten.





	Song: Aged General and Slayer of Lu Ten

**Author's Note:**

> Song's a minor character from my main series ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/20790371/chapters/49410041 ) who is introduced as being the Slayer of Lu Ten. He's a Earth Kingdom war hero when we meet him, achieving heroic status after this duel.

Records from the First Siege of Ba Sing Se, now located in the Imperial Archives:

When Crown Prince Iroh, commander of The Dragon’s Host, marched upon Ba Sing Se in the 20th Year of His Royal Highness, the 52nd Earth King. Lieutenant General Song, aged fifty-five, was given command of all Agrarian Zone forces by order of Long Feng, Regent. 

General Cao was given command of all Outer Wall defenses. Cao was happy to have Song under his command as both generals shared the belief that "the best offense is a steadfast defense" Song was only given two thousand men to defend the entire Inner Wall, whereas his superior was given fifteen thousand men. General Cao mounted a valiant defense of the Outer Wall, costing Crown Prince Iroh five hundred and eighty days, from their first arrival until a hole was made, and approximately ten thousand lives in a bloody siege. The Royal Guard detachment assigned to General Cao was willing to mount a defense to the death, but Cao broke the Royal Decree issued from Long Feng.

_ If the wall falls, perform a last stand from your defensive position.  _

He surrendered and handed over his blade, awarded to him for his service. His current whereabouts are unknown. 

Lieutenant General Song was issued the following edict by Long Feng’s couriers upon news of the Outer Wall falling.

_ Not one step back. Come back with the Dragon’s head or defend the Wall until your last breath.  _

General Sung -now passed- requested Song counterattack Iroh, to which Song stated “I’m not moving”. He refused to retreat to the Inner Wall’s gates, instead creating a defensive position in the middle of the Agrarian Zone. "I'm not blocking the refugees with my defenses." He took control of a tiny hillfort and encamped the rest of his men around it. Song then spent ten days meditating. On the eleventh day, a black smoke pillar approaching signified that “the Dragon’s Host is arriving”. He convened with his officers, and his scouts reported that Lu Ten, not Iroh, was heading the force. Lu Ten was only recently given command of a force. The rest of the Dragon’s Host appeared to be encamped just inside the Outer Wall, not moving. It appeared as if Iroh planned on methodically crossing the Agrarian Zone, while Lu Ten led the vanguard that would outflank and mop up any troop positions in the Zone. One column of troops, the 1st Army’s Komodo Rhino corps, Battalions One, Two and Three, were racing towards his position. 

General Song got up on a earthbent dais and gave the following speech, as recorded by an anonymous soldier and corroborated by other veterans.

_ The enemy officer is a worthy foe, the men he commands are as fierce as their element and seek only an honorable end. We are of the sturdiest element, though. We don’t get consumed by fire, we are hardened by it. May our morale today be as unwavering as the earth itself. If I am to meet an honorable end, let it be in a glorious last stand with my fellow soldiers. Long Live the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Years! _

The crowd erupted in cheering, and everyone took to their defensive positions. Song planned to have his men burrow underneath the oncoming force, “use my element instead of wasting my men”. 

Lu Ten’s force arrived, thousands of hoofbeats kicking up a dust cloud behind them. He was at the very front of the vanguard, behind him a contingent of Imperial Firebenders and standard bearers. He took off his helmet and held it under his arm. The young Prince was renowned to have had “one of the world’s most beautiful faces in the world”. General Song and a few Royal Guards were the only visible men, standing atop the stone walls. Lu Ten yelled up to Song “surrender and my father will surely spare you! You are but a dozen men! Would you rather die a burnt corpse or live well?” Song gave a short answer “didn't your father teach you we never take a step back?”. 

General Song took the horn from his aide and blew into it. The ground came alive with rumbling, the earthbenders launching pieces of the earth upwards, sending the rhinos into a stampede, tossing the riders off, sending some riders flying up with earth pieces. Song, meanwhile, drew his dagger, the same model that Cao had, issued to him for his defense of the Serpent’s Pass, and jumped off the hillfort. His men were pummeling the forces of the vanguard, the riders barely had time to react before they were filled with earthen shrapnel. 

Song, meanwhile, ran over to Lu Ten’s position. Lu Ten, in -according to contemporary historians- an act of stupidity or arrogance, dismounted and charged Song. Lu Ten created a fire whip, a rare technique taught to him by his father, and barely missed the oncoming Song. He switched to fire daggers, but it was too late. Song dodged Lu Ten’s right hand and missed his first strike, stabbing the Prince’s hand when he raised it to block. Song backed up, Lu Ten let out a harsh scream, then ran forwards, flame dagger in his right hand. Lu Ten pulled back for the strike, Song ducked the strike and sliced the Prince’s leg, cutting it open. He screamed out, staggered, “eyes went as wide as saucers” and collapsed in a ditch. Song walked over to the young Prince, now crying, took his dao from his sheath and said an unknown prayer to the boy. Lu Ten cried out "may you give me a honorable death!" With a effortless strike, he cleanly sliced the young Prince's head off. He took the head, holding it up as high as possible, and the surviving firebenders yelled out in surrender.

He had the boy wrapped in an Earth Kingdom flag, and had the surrendered firebenders carry the boy back to his father. He took the dao and scabbard for himself. The scabbard was ornate, a gold dragon wrapping itself with its mouth being the dao hilts and its tail coming to a point on the scabbard. On either blade was written “Made on order of Fire Lord Azulon for Crown Prince Iroh’s firstborn”. Within a week, Iroh ordered his entire force to pull out. The siege ended. Song personally retook the Outer Wall, with all the credit going to General Sung. 

**Author's Note:**

> Song's been fighting for forty years, meaning there's many more possible stories out there for me to write. Thank you for reading it and have a spooky candy-filled Halloween!
> 
> The name is a reference to Huangfu Song, one of the three Imperial Commanders who fought during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.  
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/the3kingdoms/images/a/a4/Huangfu_Song.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111027104329


End file.
